Officers Find Alleged Sexual-battery Victim

June 29, 2004|By Missy Stoddard Staff Writer

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office on Friday located a young man who says he was sexually abused by Deputy Gervasio Torres Jr. in the 1990s. In doing so, the state will proceed with prosecuting Torres on a capital sexual-battery charge.

Prosecutor Jennifer Millien told Circuit Judge Lucy Brown on Monday that just after 9 p.m. Friday, sheriff's investigators located one of Torres' alleged victims. Last week, Millien said the state would be forced to drop the charge against Torres if the young man could not be found.

Torres, 34, also faces a second capital sexual-battery charge -- which carries a mandatory life sentence -- in the alleged molestation of another young man in the 1990s.

The deputy, who's on administrative leave without pay and on house arrest, was charged with the crimes last year. They stem from incidents alleged to have occurred in the early 1990s, when Torres worked as a civilian employee in the Explorer program, geared for youth interested in law enforcement careers.

One of the alleged victims filed a complaint against Torres in 1992, saying Torres forced the boy and another student in the Explorer program to wrestle in the nude during a trip to Orlando. Those charges were investigated at the time and found to be inconclusive.

Last fall, the Sheriff's Office launched a new investigation into Torres after some parents voiced concern about the deputy's involvement with Explorer youth.

While re-interviewing the boy -- now a man -- who made the 1992 allegation, investigators were told that Torres touched the boy inappropriately when they showered together. As a result, Torres was charged with capital sexual battery.

During the 2003 investigation, investigators also discovered another boy who claimed Torres molested him while he was an Explorer. Investigators had been unable to find that alleged victim until Friday night.

FOR THE RECORD - CORRECTION PUBLISHED WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2004.An article on Page 4B in Tuesday's Local section about sexual-battery allegations against sheriff's Deputy Gervasio Torres Jr. contained two inaccuracies. Only one of the alleged victims was once a member of the Explorer program, and the notes that a judge ordered turned over to the defense are from a 2003 investigation.

Now that he has been located, the second capital sexual-battery charge will go forward.

Brown told the state Friday it must turn over to the defense notes from the 1992 investigation, though the judge said the state can black out names of the juveniles involved.

Torres' attorney Jason Weiss called the judge's ruling a "step in the right direction" that provides the defense an opportunity to examine how the investigation was conducted and what kind of tactics were used to question the children involved.

Torres is next scheduled to appear in court in September, at which time a trial date will be set.

Missy Stoddard can be reached at mstoddard@sun-sentinel.com or 561-832-2895.